System and method for enterprise authentication

ABSTRACT

A method for adaptively authenticating a subject, said method adapted to cooperate with a security provider interface hierarchy, said method comprising the steps of providing for the implementation of an authentication interface adapted to extend and implement at least a portion of the security provider hierarchy, providing for the authentication of the subject when so directed by the authentication interface, and providing for the association of a signed principal with the subject upon the successful authentication of the subject.

CROSS REFERENCES

This application is related to the following co-pending application which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety: SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTHENTICATING A SUBJECT, U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 10/373,533 Inventor: Paul Patrick, filed on Feb. 24, 2003.

This application is related to the following publications which are each hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety: BEA WebLogic Server™: Developing Security Providers for WebLogic Server (Release 7.0, Aug. 30, 2002); BEA WebLogic Server™: Introduction to WebLogic Security (Release 7.0, Jun. 28, 2002).

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present invention disclosure relates to enterprise authentication, and in r, the Java™ Authentication and Authorization Service.

BACKGROUND

Heterogeneous computer systems typically require multiple authentication sms. For example, in order to access a particular enterprise application, a user e to login to their workstation, a network, and finally the application itself. This process is cumbersome since it requires the user to interact with different authentication mechanisms, each of which may require the user to remember a unique user name and password. An additional drawback is that each authentication mechanism may be tightly integrated with the mechanism used to obtain authentication information from the user. This merger of the two mechanisms makes it difficult to integrate new authentication techniques.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an Authentication portion of the Java™ Authentication and Authorization Service.

FIG. 2 illustrates the architecture of the WebLogic® Security Service in one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates the general class architecture of an authentication provider and its associated MBeans in one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary administrative tool in one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates relationships among users, groups, principals and subjects in one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of how a configuration can affect a stacked authentication in one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates how the Java™ Authentication and Authorization Service interacts with the WebLogic® Server in one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at least one.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of the authentication portion of the Java™ Authentication and Authorization Service (JAAS). Although this figure depicts objects as functionally separate, such depiction is merely for illustrative purposes. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the objects portrayed in this figure can be arbitrarily combined or divided into separate software, firmware or hardware components. Furthermore, it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that such components, irregardless of how they are combined or divided, can execute on the same computer or can be arbitrarily distributed among different computers which may be connected by one or more networks.

JAAS is a component of the Java™ programming language environment and is available from Sun Microsystems, Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif. In one embodiment, JAAS can be used to authenticate users. JAAS implements a modular authentication framework where applications or processes requiring authentication services are kept logically separate from those services. This permits changes to authentication technologies without requiring in kind modifications to applications or processes.

Referring to FIG. 1, JAAS authentication is comprised of a LoginContext application programming interface (API) front-end 102 and a back-end including one or more authentication (or login) modules 108–118, connected via a LoginModule service provider interface (SPI) 104. In one embodiment, an interface can be a convention for communication between software and/or hardware components. In another embodiment, an interface can be a class definition in an objected oriented programming language, such as Java™. An application program/process 100 can access authentication services through the API 102 while authentication module providers write to (or “plug” into) the application-independent SPI 104. In one embodiment, API 102 and SPI 104 can be implemented as the following Java™ classes:

public final class LoginContext {   public LoginContext(String name) { }   public void login( ) { }   public void logout( ) { }   public Subject getSubject( ) { } } public interface LoginModule {   boolean login( );   boolean commit( );   boolean abort( );   boolean logout( ); } An application invokes the LoginContext's login method to request authentication of a subject. By way of a non-limiting example, in one embodiment a subject can refer to a user (be it an individual user or a group) or a service/process. One or more principals are associated with a subject upon its successful authentication. A principal can be a name or identity associated with a subject that can be used to identify the subject.

LoginContext 102 can consult configuration 106 to determine which specific login modules 110–118 to invoke in performing authentication of a subject. Depending on the requirements of a particular login module, different types of proof (e.g., user name, password, biometric data such as a finger print, retina scan, voice print, etc.) may be required for authentication. In some cases, a login module must communicate with the source of an authentication request to obtain such information. In one embodiment, a JAAS CallbackHandler interface (not shown) can be used to provide this information in an application independent fashion. For example, application 100 can implement the CallbackHandler interface and provide it to each login module via the LoginContext 102. Login modules can thereafter use the CallbackHandler to gather any required proof from the application.

The configuration 106 for a given application 100 can specify which login modules are required and which are optional. The required and optional login modules for a given application comprise an authentication stack. Stacking allows multiple authentication mechanisms to be supported (e.g., in a heterogeneous environment). Referring to FIG. 1, one stack is comprised of modules 110–114 and another is comprised of modules 116 and 118. By way of a non-limiting illustration, module 110 may authenticate a subject for a given workstation, module 112 may authenticate the subject for a given network, and finally module 114 may authenticate the subject for an enterprise application. In this example, configuration 106 would specify that all three are required for application 100. Upon successful authentication, each login module associates one or more principals with the subject.

In one embodiment, the login method of the LoginContext can perform multiple authentication in two phases. In the first phase, each login module is invoked to perform authentication of the subject. If the required login modules succeed in authentication, the second phase invokes each login module's commit method causing any relevant principals to be associated with the subject. In one embodiment, if either phase fails, the LoginContext can invoke the abort method for each login module and thus role back the authentication.

FIG. 2 illustrates the architecture of the WebLogic® Security Service (WLSS) in one embodiment of the invention. The WLSS is a component of the WebLogic® Server, available from BEA Systems, Inc. of San Jose, Calif. The WLSS provides container support for JAAS and permits the use of JAAS authentication in application code through an API 200. In one embodiment, a container provides a standard set of services (e.g., caching, concurrency, persistence, security, transaction management, locking, environment, memory replication, environment, clustering, etc.) for the entity objects that live in the container (e.g., Java™ Beans).

The WLSS framework is not limited to authentication. It has an open, general-purpose architecture that allows security vendors to provide new services (e.g., authorization, role mapping, auditing, principal validation, etc.) that plug into WLSS through a set of Security Service Provider Interfaces (SSPI's) 202. In one embodiment, SSPI's are available for Authentication, Authorization, Auditing, Role Mapping, Keystore and Principal Validation. WLSS also includes default security provider implementations 204 for these SSPI's, including JAAS-based Authentication 206 and Principal Validation 210. In one embodiment, an interface can be implemented in the Java™ programming language or other paradigms that support inheritance of interfaces.

To provide open and extensible management of security services, in one embodiment WLSS implements Java™ Management Extensions (JMX). JMX was developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. and other companies. JMX provides a tiered architecture for integrating managed resources and the applications that manage them. Each managed resource includes a set of attributes that can be configured and monitored for management purposes. Theses attributes are exposed through one or more managed beans (MBeans). The bottom-most tier is the instrumentation level. It allows management of a resource through one or more MBeans. There is a direct mapping between Java™ Beans and MBeans, thus allowing for straightforward implementation of management capabilities if a resource happens to be a Java™ Bean. The middle tier is the agent level. Agents provide for communicating with one or more MBeans synchronously or asnycronously (e.g., polling). The upper-most tier is the management level. This level provides user-accessible management components and tools that consolidate the services of agents.

FIG. 3 illustrates the general class architecture of an authentication provider and its associated MBean in one embodiment of the invention. Generally speaking, implementing an authentication provider in the WLSS framework can include the following steps:

-   -   Determine the type of custom security provider to create (e.g.,         authentication).     -   Identify the appropriate SSPI's to implement in order to create         the runtime class(es) for the security provider.     -   Identify the appropriate MBean SSPI's to implemented in order to         manage the security provider run-time class.     -   Implement the SSPI's by providing implementations for each of         their methods. The methods should contain specific algorithms         for the security services offered by the security provider.

FIG. 3 illustrates the WLSS authentication SSPI's 202 and implementations thereof 204 in one embodiment. The SecurityProvider interface 304 is required of all security providers because it supplies fundamental methods for interaction with the WLSS framework. In one embodiment, the SecurityProvider includes the following methods:

METHOD DESCRIPTION initialize Initializes the security provider. Takes as a parameter (ProviderMBean) a ProviderMBean. This parameter allows the security provider to be managed in the WLSS framework by passing configuration information contained in the MBean to the provider. GetDescription Returns a text description of the security provider. For example, “WebLogic ® Authentication provider, version 1.0”. Shutdown Terminates the security provider.

The SecurityProvider interface 304 is extended by an AuthenticationProvider interface 306. The AuthenticationProvider interface exposes the services of an authentication provider implementation to the WLSS framework such that the authentication provider can be manipulated (e.g., initialized, started, stopped, etc.) by the framework. In one embodiment, the AuthenticationProvider interface includes the following methods:

METHOD DESCRIPTION getLoginModuleConfiguration Returns the App ConfigurationEntry for this Authentication provider's JAAS LoginModule. The AppConfigurationEntry is a configuration specific to this Authentication provider that is needed to properly execute login authentication in a security realm. In one embodiment, a security realm contains a set of security configuration settings, including a set of security providers to use (for example, for authentication and authorization). The AppConfigurationEntry parameter represents a single LoginModule entry configured for an application. In one embodiment, each respective AppConfigurationEntry can contain a LoginModule name, a control flag (specifying whether this LoginModule is REQUIRED, REQUISITE, SUFFICIENT, or OPTIONAL), and LoginModule-specific options. getPrincipalValidator Returns this Authentication provider's associated Principal Validation provider. The Principal Validator interface 208 defines the methods that custom Principal Validation providers can implement to support principal trust relationships within the context of the WLSS framework. In one embodiment, Principal Validation providers can be used with Authentication providers to provide additional security protections for the principals associated with a subject.

In one embodiment, the SecurityProvider and AuthenticationProvider interfaces are implemented by an AuthenticationImp class 206. In another embodiment, if there were additional SSPI's to implement (i.e., not in the SecurityProvider hierarchy), the AuthenticationImp class could act as a factory for generating these. A factory allows objects to be created dynamically. For example, in one embodiment the AuthenticationProvider 206 can use a factory to instantiate a LoginModule object 302 that implements the JAAS LoginModule interface 300 and thereafter use the object to perform JAAS authentication.

In one embodiment, an MBean class can be implemented to manage the AuthenticationImp class 206. The ProviderMBean interface 310 is the base MBean for all security managers and as such includes attributes common to all. All attributes and operations that are specified in an implemented MBean extend up the class hierarchy and are exposed in the ProviderMBean interface. This allows a JMX-compatible administrative tool to access and configure these attributes which in one embodiment are provided to the AuthenticationImp 206 via the initialize method of the SecurityProviderInterface. In one embodiment, the ProviderMBean has the following methods:

METHOD DESCRIPTION getProviderClassName Returns the name of the Java ™ class used to load the security provider. Each security provider can implement a runtime class which extends a specific interface in WLSS. The security provider's MBean can set the default value of this attribute to a fully qualified classname of the security provider's runtime class. GetDescription Returns a string that describes this security provider. Each security provider's MBean can set the default value of this attribute. GetVersion Returns the security provider's version. Each security provider's MBean can set the default value of this read-only attribute to a string that specifies the version of the provider (eg. 7.3.04). getRealm Returns the RealmMBean that contains this security provider. A RealmMBean is an MBean that represents configuration attributes for a security realm. A security realm contains a set of security configuration settings, including a set of security providers to use (for example, for authentication and authorization). When a WebLogic ® Server boots, it locates and uses a default security realm. If an application specifies a different security realm, then that security realm is used instead. setRealm Set the realm that contains this security provider. (RealmMBean)

In one embodiment, the ProviderMBean interface 310 can be extended by the AuthenticationProviderMBean interface 312. The AuthenticationProviderMBean is the base MBean for all MBean implementations that manage Authentication providers. In one embodiment, the interface can be a marker, that is, it has no methods other than those it inherits from ProviderMBean. In another embodiment, the AuthenticationProviderMBean can supply methods specific to authentication providers.

In one embodiment, the AuthenticationProviderMBean interface 312 can be extended by the AuthenticatorMBean interface 314. The AuthenticatorMBean is the SSPI MBean that an authentication provider with login services can extend. This MBean provides a ControlFlag to determine whether the authentication provider is a required, requisite, sufficient or an optional part of a stacked login sequence. In one embodiment, the interface includes the following methods:

METHOD DESCRIPTION GetControlFlag Returns the control flag associated with this provider. The control flag determines how the framework uses the Authentication provider. A REQUIRED value requires this Authentication provider to succeed. Regardless of whether it succeeds, in one embodiment an authentication proceeds to other Authentication providers that have been configured as part of the login stack. A REQUISITE value requires this Authentication provider to succeed. If it succeeds, authentication proceeds to other Authentication providers. If it fails, control immediately returns to the application (authentication does not proceed). A SUFFICIENT value does not require this Authentication provider to succeed. If it succeeds, control immediately returns to the application (authentication does not proceed to other Authenticaion providers). If it fails, authentication proceeds to other Authentication providers that have been configured as part of the login sequence. An OPTIONAL value does not require this Authentication provider to succeed. Regardless of whether it succeeds, in one embodiment authentication proceeds to other Authentication providers that have been configured as part of the login sequence. setControlFlag Determines how the login sequence uses the (integer) Authentication provider.

AuthenticatorMBeanImp 314 implements the AuthenticatorMBean interface. AuthenticationImp 206 and AuthenticatorMBeanImp 314 are run-time security provider implementations of their respective interface hierarchies. Together, both the runtime class and its associated MBean form a “security provider.” In one embodiment, when a WebLogic® Server instance starts, the WLSS framework locates the MBean (AuthenticatorMBeanImp 314) associated with the security provider (AuthenticationImp 206). The framework provides the AuthenticatorMBeanImp 314 to an instance of the security provider AuthenticationImp 206, which uses the MBean to obtain its configuration information. In another embodiment, configuration information could be obtained from another source (e.g., a database, file or a process).

FIG. 4 is an exemplary administrative tool in one embodiment of the invention. By way of illustration, the tool can logically reside at the JMX management level and can include a graphical user interface 400. In one embodiment, all attributes and operations that are specified in the classes hierarchically beneath the ProviderMBean interface can be automatically surfaced in the administrative tool 400 wherein they may be configured. For example, the Name 402, Description 404, and Version 406 fields come from attributes inherited from the ProviderMBean interface 310, whereas the ControlFlag 408 comes from the AuthenticatorMBean interface 314. Access to these attributes by an administrative tool allows the AuthenticationImp class 206 to be easily configured.

Authentication providers also remember, transport, and make identity information available to various components of a system (via subjects) when needed. JAAS utilizes subjects as containers for authentication information, including principals. During the authentication process, a principal validation provider 210 affords additional security protection for principals associated with a subject by signing and verifying the authenticity of those principals. In one embodiment, the signing algorithm can be based on mechanism for message authentication using a cryptographic or other function to generate a code as a function of the principal and a secret, shared key. A change to the principal can thus be detected if the function is applied again, but the resulting value no longer matches the originally computed code.

In one embodiment, the signing function can be implemented using an HMAC hashing-based algorithm. Assume that H denotes a hash function that takes an input string of any length and produces a hashed output. Let Text denote information about the principal to be signed (e.g., the name of the principal, etc.), and let K denote a secret key. K should not be larger than the size of the hashing block size as determined by H (e.g., 64). If K is shorter than the block size, it should be extended by zeroes until it equals the block size. Let ipad represent the byte 0×36 repeated 64 times, and opad represent the byte 0x5C repeated 64 times. Thus, in one embodiment, the authentication code can be calculated as follows: HMAC _(k)(Text)=H(K{circle around (x)}opad,H(K{circle around (x)}ipad, Text)).

First, K and ipad are XOR'd (bitwise exclusive-OR) together. H is applied to this result as prepended to Text. The output of H is then appended to the XOR of K and opad. This result is then passed to a second invocation of H to produce the authentication code.

In one embodiment, verification of principal signatures takes place during the WebLogic® Server's demarshalling of remote method invocation client requests. The authenticity of the subject's principals can also be verified when making authorization decisions, such as when a client is attempting to access a resource.

The PrincipalValidator interface 208 defines the methods that Principal Validation providers can implement to support principal trust relationships within the context of the WebLogic® Server environment. In one embodiment, a PrincipalValidator's methods can include:

METHOD DESCRIPTION validate (Principal) Verifies that the principal has not been altered since it was signed. Returns TRUE if the principal has been validated or FALSE if the principal has not been validated. sign (String) Signs the principal to assure trust. Returns TRUE if the principal has been signed, FALSE if the principal has not been signed. The sign method should be a secret algorithm that malicious individuals cannot easily recreate. It can include an algorithm within the sign method itself, have the sign method call out to a server for a token it should use to sign the principal, or implement some other way of signing the principal. getPrincipalBaseClass Gets the base Principal class validated and signed by this Principal Validation provider.

FIG. 5 illustrates relationships among users, groups, principals and subjects in one embodiment of the invention. A subject 502 can have multiple identities, each of which is represented by a principal 504–510. In one embodiment, a principal that is going to represent a user or a group can implement the WLSUser interface 514 or WLSGroup 516 interfaces, respectively. In one embodiment, these interfaces can be marker interfaces, that is they can extend the JASS Principal interface 512 without adding any methods. In another embodiment, the Principal interface 512 can be extended by custom interfaces (e.g., MyPrincipal 518). Referring to FIG. 5, principal “Smith” 504 is an instance of WLSUser 514, “Developers” 506 and “Administrators” 508 are instances of WLSGroup 516, and “foobar” 510 is an instance of MyPrincipal 518.

A JAAS-compliant LoginModule 302 is a component of a WLSS authentication provider. LoginModules authenticate subjects within a security realm and populate them with principals. In one embodiment, LoginModules can also verify the proof material submitted (e.g., a user's password). If there are multiple authentication providers configured in a security realm, each authentication provider's LoginModule will store principals within the same subject. Therefore, if a principal that represents a WebLogic® Server user (e.g., an implementation of the WLSUser interface) named “Joe” is added to the subject by one authentication provider's LoginModule, any other authentication provider in the security realm should be referring to the same person when they encounter “Joe”. However, it is acceptable for a another authentication provider's LoginModule to add a principal of a type other than WLSUser with the name “Joe”.

LoginModules can be written to handle a variety of authentication mechanisms, including username/password combinations, smart cards, biometric devices, and so on. In one embodiment, a LoginModule can implement the javax.security.auth.spi.LoginModule interface, which is based on JAAS and uses a subject as a container for authentication information. The LoginModule interface enables different kinds of authentication technologies for use with a single application, and the WLSS framework is designed to support multiple LoginModule implementations for multipart authentication. In one embodiment, the relationship between LoginModules and Authentication providers is one-to-one. In other words, to have a LoginModule that handles retina scan authentication and a LoginModule that interfaces to a hardware device like a smart card, two Authentication providers are required, each of which includes an implementation of the LoginModule interface.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of how a configuration can affect a stacked authentication in one embodiment of the invention. Multiple authentication providers 600–604 are illustrated with associated configuration information in columns 608–614. The “Authenticated?” column 608 indicates whether or not the authentication in this instance succeeded. The “Principal Created?” column 610 indicates whether or not a principal was associated with the subject as a result of authentication. The “Control Flag Setting” column 612 indicates the control flag configuration setting for the corresponding authentication module. Finally, the “Subject” column 614 indicates which principals are associated with the subject as a result of the authentication.

Looking at authentication provider 600, its authentication succeeded as indicated by the “Yes” in column 608. Therefore, a principal p1 was created as shown in column 610. The principal p1 is associated with the subject, as indicated in column 614. This authentication provider's configuration control flag was set to “Required”, as indicated in column 612. The authentication performed by authentication provider 602 failed, as indicated by the “No” in column 608. Thus, p1 remains in the subject. Since the control flag setting is “Optional”, authentication will nonetheless proceed to the next provider in the stack. If the control flag for authentication provider 602 had been set to “Required”, however, the failure would have caused the entire process to fail. Also, if the subject had not been authenticated by the provider 600 or 602, the entire authentication process would have failed. If the authentication process had failed in any of these ways, all three LoginModule authentications would have been rolled back and the subject would not contain any principals. Authentication provider 604 had a successful authentication, and thus principal p2 is also added to the subject.

FIG. 7 illustrates how the Java™ Authentication and Authorization Service interacts with the WebLogic® Server in one embodiment of the invention. In another embodiment, for authentication performed entirely on the server-side, the process would begin at step 3.

-   1. A client-side application obtains authentication information from     a user or process (e.g., user name, password and uniform resource     locator). The mechanism by which this occurs can be different for     each type of client. -   2. The application creates a CallbackHandler containing the     authentication information. In one embodiment, there are three types     of CallbackHandlers: NameCallback, PasswordCallback, and     TextInputCallback, all of which can reside in the     javax.security.auth.callback package. The NameCallback and     PasswordCallback return the username and password, respectively.     TextInputCallback can be used to access the data users enter into     any additional fields on a login form (that is, fields other than     those for obtaining the username and password).     -   a. The application passes the CallbackHandler to the LoginModule         using the LoginContext class.     -   b. The client's LoginModule passes the CallbackHandler         containing the authentication information (that is, username,         password, and URL) to a WebLogic® Server Remote Method         Invocation (RMI) container. -   3. The WebLogic® Server remote method invocation (RMI) container     calls into the WLSS framework. The client-side CallbackHandler     containing authentication information is provided to the WLSS     framework. -   4. In one embodiment, for each of the configured authentication     providers the WLSS framework creates a CallbackHandler containing     the username, password, and URL that was passed in. (In one     embodiment, these are internal CallbackHandlers created on the     server-side by the framework, and are not related to the client's     CallbackHandler.) -   5. The framework calls the LoginModule associated with the     Authentication provider (i.e., the LoginModule that is specifically     designed to handle the authentication information). The LoginModule     attempts to authenticate the client using the authentication     information. -   6. If the authentication is successful, the following occurs:     -   a. Principals (users and groups) are signed by a principal         validation provider to ensure their authenticity between         programmatic server invocations.     -   b. The LoginModule associates the signed principals with a         subject, which represents the user or system being         authenticated.     -   c. The framework returns an authentication status to the client         application, and the client application retrieves the         authenticated subject from the framework.

One embodiment may be implemented using a conventional general purpose or a specialized digital computer or microprocessor(s) programmed according to the teachings of the present disclosure, as will be apparent to those skilled in the computer art. Appropriate software coding can readily be prepared by skilled programmers based on the teachings of the present disclosure, as will be apparent to those skilled in the software art. The invention may also be implemented by the preparation of integrated circuits or by interconnecting an appropriate network of conventional component circuits, as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

One embodiment includes a computer program product which is a storage medium (media) having instructions stored thereon/in which can be used to program a computer to perform any of the features presented herein. The storage medium can include, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical discs, DVD, CD-ROMs, microdrive, and magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, DRAMs, VRAMs, flash memory devices, magnetic or optical cards, nanosystems (including molecular memory ICs), or any type of media or device suitable for storing instructions and/or data.

Stored on any one of the computer readable medium (media), the present invention includes software for controlling both the hardware of the general purpose/specialized computer or microprocessor, and for enabling the computer or microprocessor to interact with a human user or other mechanism utilizing the results of the present invention. Such software may include, but is not limited to, device drivers, operating systems, execution environments/containers, and user applications.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention has been provided for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to the practitioner skilled in the art. Embodiments were chosen and described in order to best describe the principles of the invention and its practical application, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention, the various embodiments and with various modifications that are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents. 

1. A method for authenticating a subject, said method to cooperate with a security provider interface hierarchy, said method comprising the steps of: providing an authentication interface implementation adapted to extend at least a portion of the security provider hierarchy; providing for authentication of the subject when so directed by the authentication interface; and providing for association of a signed principal with the subject upon successful authentication of the subject; wherein the step of providing for the authentication of the subject includes invoking one or more Java Authentication and Authorization Service login modules; and wherein configuration information determines which login modules are required and which login modules are optional.
 2. A method for authenticating a subject, said method to cooperate with a tiered management system, said method comprising the steps of: providing for receipt of configuration information from the tiered management system; providing for authentication of the subject based on the configuration information; providing for association of at least one signed principal with the subject upon successful authentication of the subject; wherein the step of providing for the authentication of the subject includes invoking one or more Java Authentication and Authorization Service login modules; and wherein the configuration information determines which login modules are required and which login modules are optional.
 3. A method for authenticating a subject, said method to cooperate with a security provider interface hierarchy and a tiered management system, said method comprising the steps of: providing for receipt of configuration information from the tiered management system; providing an authentication interface implementation adapted to extend at least a portion of the security provider hierarchy; providing for authentication of the subject when so directed by the authentication interface and according to the configuration information; providing for association of a signed principal with the subject upon successful authentication of the subject; the step of providing for the authentication of the subject includes invoking one or more Java Authentication and Authorization Service login modules; and wherein the configuration information determines which login modules are required and which login modules are optional.
 4. A method for authenticating a subject in response to an authentication request, comprising the steps of: providing for receipt of authentication information from the request; providing authentication information to at least one authentication provider; allowing the at least one authentication provider to authenticate the subject based on the authentication information; providing for association of a signed principal with the subject upon each successful authentication of the subject; the step of providing for the authentication of the subject includes invoking one or more Java Authentication and Authorization Service login modules; and wherein configuration information determines which login modules are required and which login modules are optional.
 5. A method for adaptively authenticating a subject, said method comprising the steps of: providing an authentication interface adapted to extend and implement at least a portion of a security provider interface hierarchy; providing for receipt of authentication information from one of (1) an application and (2) a container; providing for the authentication of the subject based on the authentication information when directed to do so by the application or the container; providing for the association of a signed principal with the subject upon the successful authentication of the subject; the step of providing for the authentication of the subject includes invoking one or more Java Authentication and Authorization Service login modules; and wherein a configuration information determines which login modules are required and which login modules are optional.
 6. A system for adaptively authenticating a subject, comprising: a modular security framework; an authentication provider coupled to the framework; a login module coupled to the authentication provider, the login module to authenticate the subject under the direction of the authentication provider, wherein the login module associates a principal with the subject if authentication of the subject is successful; a principal validator coupled to the authentication provider, the principal validator to sign the principal; a management provider to provide configuration information to the authentication provider; wherein the authentication provider can invoke more than one login module to authenticate the subject; and wherein configuration information determines which login modules are required and which login modules are optional.
 7. A machine readable medium having instructions stored thereon that when executed by a processor cause a system to: implement a authentication interface adapted to extend and implement at least a portion of a security provider interface hierarchy; authenticate a subject when so directed by the authentication interface; associate a signed principal with the subject upon successful authentication of the subject authenticating the subject includes invoking one or more Java Authentication and Authorization Service login modules; and wherein configuration information determines which login modules are required and which login modules are optional. 